december al-jazeera. we will maintain the finest fighting force the world has ever known united states army was so reliant on the private sector i would call it a dependency we had a mismatch between the way we. are to be and the reality of the twenty first century. a legal form even and i want to show you how many of the persons that you're sending out you should be chancellor just like i said my child soldiers reloaded at this time. i really felt liberated as a journalist about. getting to the truth as i would that's what this job. agrees to take back thousands of the hinge of refugees who fled to bangladesh.

but i'm adrian for the good this is our zero ally from doha also coming up. asylum seekers who refused to leave the fold of a straight in one prison camp on minus island forced out. the excitement of exams but in south korea it's so competitive they've got to pass and pass well plus. i'm john hendren in fulton texas a town celebrating the thanksgiving holiday still devastated from hurricane harvey . me in bangladesh say they've signed a deal for the repair tradition of a hinge of refugees hundreds of thousands of a hinge a have fled across the border from me and to escape an army crackdown. it's hoped

that that will allow the refugees to return home once the paperwork has been completed by bangladesh let's go live to yang go zero scott hyde can tell us more scope we've been expecting some sort of deal to been signed tell us something of the significance here and why it's important both me and mom and bangladesh a general definitely important in myanmar because we've been reporting over the last several weeks there's been mounting international criticism and pressure on this country to do something with the regime to crisis moving forward in some way so they had a lot of pressure on that front so this shows that they're at least moving down a path where we'll get those hundreds of thousands of people back at least into their villages or into the we're kind state and then from a bangladesh point of view they have six hundred thousand plus more people in their nation right along the border so there are concerns health concerns and also a longer term mid term concerns if you will what would happen with those refugee

camps if they stayed on so for both nations this memo of understanding signing that we saw here in myanmar on thursday is good news for both sides so you know there's a lot of hope behind this but there's very little detail on it it's a member of understanding both nations saying ok yes we want these we agreeing that these people will come back no real time scale schedule no timetable we know that there's going to be a lot of paperwork that's what myanmar officials are looking for now paperwork of these hundreds of thousands of people before they can start flowing back in but again we just don't really know a timetable just yet aid of what extent has this deal come about due to pressure applied by the u.s. it comes within a day of secretary tillotson calling the crackdown in rakhine state ethnic cleansing. absolutely within about twelve fifteen hours after u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson made that comment the first time the trump administration has called what happened in the rakhine state ethnic cleansing know

rex tillerson was just in country last week he said that their value weighting using that description ethnic cleansing wednesday evening u.s. time washington time he said it he said what has taken place in the rakhine state over the last couple of months is ethnic cleansing and then here twelve fifteen hours later we see that this number of understanding is signed so it's obviously there's that is part of mounting pressure you know the united nations has been using that description for several weeks but again the united states didn't until just ones that evening and now we're seeing this moment understanding signed so again there's going to be a lot of focus on what's happening going forward you know there's a working group that was created out of this deal today thursday and that is going to be a foreign minister level working group to see exactly how those details are going to be worked out and get those people back from those refugee camps back into rakhine state right scott many thanks indeed scott hyla there reporting live from the ngo police in papua new guinea have into the decommissioned prison camp on mount asylums trying to evict refugees who are refusing to leave around fifty of

them left in buses but around three hundred thirty others say they're too afraid to go outside the former australian run facility fearing attacks by local people the prison camp was closed last month after papua new guinea ruled that it was unconstitutional since then the refugees have been living in increasingly filthy conditions without clean water or supply is charlie is a refugee on the island gave us details of the police raid. so many. times present come. attack. this moment. it's these. little. follies. destroying everything.

it's throwing. shells. people treat people then you must move this prison camp. prison camp because they are. not going to leave this prison compound go to another prison come straight as prime minister insists the refugees should go to the alternative accommodation that's been provided for them on the island. staying there is obviously designed they think this is somewhere they can pressure the australian government to let them come to australia well we will not be pressured i want to be very clear about this our border security the integrity of our borders is maintained by my government it is maintained by my government and we will not

outsource our migration policy to people smugglers the people on mannus should go to the places alternative places of safety with all the facilities they need they should do so peacefully and they should do so cordons with the lawful directions of papua new guinea which is the country in which the center is located al-jazeera is under thomas his online asylum. three bus loads of refugees have passed us on the only road to the prison which is over the water there behind me now we know that the place went in the morning on state papa new guinea in time about four or five hours ago now the accounts we hear of what happened very refugee say that they use force or violence against them in the place so they didn't they only destroyed property and they were just trying to incentivize if you like the refugees to leave but in the course of that we heard that fifty or sixty men were taken by the place i think that those that we just saw passing along the road right

here just in the last three or four minutes were those men the first bus contains refugees and one of them leaned out of the window and said help help us the second one had a man who went out and said some insulting things about australia but this is all of our life situation iraqi forces have launched an operation to clear remaining eisel fighters out of the desert bordering syria troops from the iraqi army and the shia popular mobilization forces are taking part in the campaign against isis fighters hiding in a large strip of border land iraq's prime minister hiding out a body says that he's like he'll announce the final defeat of the armed group in iraq once the operation has been completed. lebanon's prime minister says the recent political crisis was a wake up call reminding his people to put their country first ahead of regional issues saad hariri put his resignation on hold when he returned to beirut on wednesday after the president asked for more dialogue he made the sudden announcement to step down in the saudi capital riyadh more than two weeks ago the

move was seen as part of the regional rivalry between saudi arabia and iran already heads a coalition government with the iranian backed group hezbollah. the president of france says the u.n. security council should consider sanctions against libya if it doesn't crack down on people trafficking and money will mark one condemns the auctioning of refugees as a crime against humanity he was meeting guinea's president alpha condé who's also been also chair of the african union commission the u.n. is calling for an investigation after an outcry over a video said to show african refugees being sold as slaves in libya. understand the situation it is crucial to condemn these situations and denounce them through international law to fight and do everything to eradicate traffickers is now our priority we should try to anticipate the situation because libya is in a political transition there is presently no stable government we are working

actively in the framework of the united nations mediation so that there can be a durable political situation. leading palestinian political factions including hamas and fatah have agreed to hold elections by the end of next year the groups made the joint statement following reconciliation talks in cairo last month hamas agreed to cede powers in gaza to the palestinian authority in a deal mediated by egypt yemen's main international airport hasn't reopened despite the saudi led coalition saying that it would the military alliance alliance and announce that they would be allowing humanitarian aid into some airports and the seaport of her data they've been facing increasing pressure from the u.s. and the u.n. to lift the blockade ports were closed two weeks ago after huth the rebels fired a missile at the saudi capital riyadh the u.n. and aid agencies say the measures could lead to mass starvation. we are monitoring these developments and we're trying to see whether that actually takes

place on the ground of course if that were to happen that would be a very welcome and critically important development we have made clear. tremendous amount of needs on the ground we're ready to help if the ports are open so we'll keep tracking this and and see where we go from there. foreign minister has made a keynote speech at a counterterrorism conference in london shaikh mohammed been the last one all thought he says that qatar remains resolutely committed to eradicating terrorism of all kinds but that wants constantly. to seek a new collective approaches to the global threat on terrorism in a changing world. since two thousand and four that it took aggressive steps to cut off the flow of finance of terrorists by developing the proper legislation the proper is just

a little framework and improve our financial monitoring system and it is a work in progress which needs review and improvement. since then we have successfully identified and prosecuted individuals and organizations within our borders who are suspected of supporting terrorism. while implementing the rule of law and due process. and would like to stress on them porton of the implementation of that. and the due process because one of the married after reason to flourish is the absence of justice. and we shouldn't allow governments. to disrespect their own flaws and the due process and use that terrorism as a reason or as a justification to prosecute political opponents which has been used

a lot now and our region will get a weather update thanks to an al-jazeera russia's president says the efforts to end the war in syria are entering a new faces three key players in the conflict in social plus. it's been making the saffron any one hundred fifty years we meet the man who's trying to keep this new york organ alive. however we got some rather lively re making its way across japan of the moment add also some snow. one hundred four millimeters of rain in twenty four hours this big area cloud now in the process of pulling out of the way really it's just going to

make way for the next weather system you see this area cloud moving through the sea of japan that will bring further spells of wet weather wintry weather over the higher ground as we go on through friday so thirteen celsius there for tokyo by sas they were looking at similar temperatures similar conditions as well was that rain sleet and snow sheltered by the mountains i do suspect that tokyo should stay largely dry as we go on into the weekend meanwhile we got some rather heavy rain pushing across southern parts of china over the next day or so down towards the southwest still some big and heavy downpours coming through here weather continuing to into a good parts of vietnam and notice the sas table the southeast of china hong kong started to see some very heavy rain with the possibility of some localized flooding by this day's she was continue across a good part of southeast asia some live a downpour study a possibility once again into malaysia easing across into a good parts of thailand likely not seeing a little further south as we go on through saturday and by that stage more family

showers in the heat of the day for indonesia. when they cast for a rival to country club and they decide to play god. and suddenly feel castro said she can write. good. bread self's cubans are hard in this magnificent. a chronicle of the revolution and its aspirations through the prism of its architecture cuba's unfinished spaces at this time on al-jazeera.

again the top stories this hour on al-jazeera bangladesh say they've signed a deal for the repatriation of the hinge of refugees it's hoped that it will allow the refugees to return home once that paperwork is completed by bangladesh hundreds of thousands in just a flood an army crackdown in me and. police in papua new guinea have entered a decommissioned prison camp on minus island trying to evict refugees who are refusing to leave around fifty of them left in buses around three hundred thirty others say that too afraid to go outside the full story about seventy fearing attacks by local people and yemen's made international airport still not reopened despite the saudi led coalition saying that it would the military alliance that announced that they would be allowing humanitarian aid into some airports in the seaport of what data they've been facing increasing pressure from the u.s. and the u.n.

to lift the blockade. not much is known of robert mugabe its movements over the past few days but here we can show you what's said to be the first picture of the former zimbabwean president since he resigned it was taken some time after that he stepped down his wife grace who's been the focus of much of the backlash against mugabe is seen with him in the picture was in bad ways incoming president emerson went on gaga has an uphill battle to turn things around in the country ninety percent of people are unemployed and the international monetary fund has labeled the economic situation there as very difficult it says that high government spending is threatening any sustainable growth andrew simmons reports now from harare. is going to have to really deal with this in a fast way an efficient way and also good governance is interlinked to getting the money and getting what is a desperate situation with the economy in some way port heading in the right

direction and someone well qualified to talk about this with me now vincent the say way he's an economist senior economist with much political experience of the past with one of the opposition parties can i put to you vincent if you were in the big chair if you just take in the presidency in this way what would you be doing to try to manage expectations with the economy well you know it's i don't see any i think andy's going to be important for it particularly what he sees tomorrow he has to want to show us that he's serious about change and that he's actually going to appoint the proper people the right team that he's going to allow him to deliver. the united nations says that syrians in a besieged suburb of the capital damascus or so hungry that they're scavenging from lit up in government forces and that allies cut off the rebel held district of eastern ghouta the five years now days of relentless and strikes of bombarded the opposition stronghold the world food program says the situation could worsen for

around one hundred seventy five thousand people when food stocks run out soon russia's president has told his turkish and iranian counterparts that there is a real chance of ending the war in syria they may have putin believes that a new stage has been reached in the conflict he says that syria's president bashar al assad has pledged to hold new elections on the u.n. supervision russia iran and turkey a key players in the conflict russia and iran back aside while turkey backs some rebel groups that speak out to the coffers of russian political scientist who joins us now live from moscow good to have you with us the russian president is as unveiled plans for a syrian peace congress how will these talks differ from the ones in geneva or a stunner. actually they are not so much defer because this congress of national unity of syrian people is

actually adding to the geneva talks because according to the plan as russian president vladimir putin sat russia is suggesting that in this conference all the parties are also well the official. representatives as well as all the opposition groups or their representatives will take part because that will be that should be a truly representative for congress and the decisions which we'll be discussing discussed during this congress should actually add the value to the geneva talks fell the geneva talks because the congress is going to be on the fourth of december after the geneva talks resumption in the end of november but i think there will be are there geneva talks all that should be adding value western diplomats the fear

that putin has decided in effect to bypass the the deadlocked u.n. syrian peace process in in geneva has he no no actually he doesn't he doesn't one with them doesn't want to bypass the geneva talks begin to rush actually would like to restart to revive the geneva talks geneva talks and to that the geneva talks to reach the concrete specific results specific results for national reconciliation in syria between all the parties so i think that that's not true so how is russia doing it differently when you compare it to were the previous method mediators made so very little progress in this. well who says that the progress should be made it this is a long process actually because of the war the war with terrorism international

terrorism has just done that and you know we have syria in shambles so we need just have some time to restart the process of national reconciliation to restart the process of negotiations between all the parties and to start the rebuilding syria so this is not in these a process and it will take time all right good to talk to somebody thanks david i mean the coffee in moscow the pressures on the hundreds of thousands of students in south korea as they sit exams the all important college entrance tests often set the course of a young person's future this year they were postponed due to a rare earthquake kathy novak reports from so. the years of study and long nights of after school tuition have all come down to this. i prepared a lot but now the days here i feel uneasy and nervous.

the welcome to school by younger friends students in this new tory asli competitive country know the day long exam can determine not only what university they will attend but also their career and marriage prospects and ultimately their status in society the exam day has become a national event these students have shown up early to cheer on their classmates late comers can have a police escort and aren't allowed to take a morning during the english listening. when a rare earthquake damaged buildings in the southern regions of the country the exam was postponed across the nation by a week. but it was no longer a make or break event for everyone while her classmates were cramming in the hours before the test known as the sooner and was relaxing in a cafe with a friend she attends a specialized school and has already been accepted into university through a relatively new system which considers high school grades essays and

extracurricular activities instead of the single exam i feel grateful because i know there are some people who who look towards the sooner that their last chance to prove themselves and they study so hard to just show everything that they have studied and one day a growing number of students have been opting for the new system today only thirty percent of university applications are based primarily on exam results. the education and college admissions systems are changing to ease fierce competition among students and to provide more learning opportunities a focus more on learning and less on memory. i believe the level of stress that students have from studying is lower than the past second year student kung sailin agrees her stress levels are lower than they might have been but still not exactly low. just still exists because you know there are many academies and students

are pressured to be more excelling because the universe never cities are you know a big factor in their futures. and for many students this test could still be the crucial factor that determines what kind of future they will have kathy novak al-jazeera soul. hurrican harvey was the most expensive tropical cyclone on record wind and flooding causing nearly two hundred billion dollars dollars worth of damage breaking the record set by hurricane katrina in two thousand and five nowhere was harvey's devastation felt more than an arkansas county in texas where hundreds remain homeless for thanksgiving john hendren is spending the holiday in the town of the texas town of fulton. ok let me thank you me. over on this thanksgiving holiday the people of texas have fewer blessings to count

. about taking my lap one time for manic depression. we're going to have a christmas eve is going to get a christmas promise you howard. mayor jimmie kendrick lost his barn two cars in much of his electricity in hurricane harvey and he considers himself lucky . three months after the eye of the storm ravaged nearly every building here a survey returned by most of iran's as counties remaining twenty five hundred students brought stunning news we've got quite a few that are home with that ninety eight percent of those they're homeless and some wife according to the texas law and schools that means they could be without electricity or could be in the situation or living with somebody else two percent and we're still living in tents. many live in this tent city even as demolition crews are still tearing down their homes about twenty trailer homes from the federal emergency management agency have arrived here in arends this county but

three hundred fifty families have asked for help finding housing the fulton fishing pier he used to be a gathering place for the town and it was practical the money generated from running fishing gear and selling snacks here paid for the police department but since the powerful winds of hurricane harvey tore through it at points it needs to be rebuilt from scratch many hotels restaurants and stores are either financially wiped out or wiped off the map what did you lose in hurricane harvey our little american dream so we lost our hardware brand new business it was all right here yeah it was just right here front door was right there ok so he's putting the deck up today donna townsend own three businesses here one was destroyed one was badly damaged the third was rescued by fulton residents say the neighbor's house yeah they were is an friends and customers i know everybody needed

a place to least say hello again how are you so the sugar shack became the town hall pretty much pretty much as texans along the gulf of mexico begin the long task of rebuilding their lives most of those we talked to say on this holiday they're thankful for what remains john hendren al-jazeera fulton texas. they hear jorgen it's and patrick's old cathedral in new york city is the oldest one of its size in the u.s. but stuff a concern that it might not make it to its one hundred fiftieth birthday next year church funds are low and the organ needs a lot of work music director john ridley manzo has become as much a mechanic as he is musician he shows us what it takes to keep the organs pipes in tune. i'm gerald manzo i'm the director of music here at the basilica of st patrick's cathedral in new york city. this organ was

built by a man named henry urban back in eight hundred sixty eight and i like to think it was his finest work. it was boyce for this room he designed it for this room and that's such an important part of why this organ special. it's a wonderful combination of visual art and also sonic r. . and has almost two thousand five hundred pipes it is all mechanical so you can see how everything works so here we are inside oregon. down here we have the bellows and they go all the way underneath the instrument and they go up and down and. there is no electricity and eight hundred sixty eight telegraph had just been invented a little square so when i press down on the pedal air goes inside here and plays

that no. the organ right now has some issues there are little things that happen but since it's mechanical i can go back there and fiddle with it and get it working again and have a lot of these around you because this happens all the time when mechanical issues it's a lot of work it's done and all of those tens of thousands of services this played . now are approaching its one hundred fiftieth anniversary next year we're launching a fund raising campaign to preserve this instrument for future generations. it is a huge project but we want to conserve it as best we can with as much of the original materials as possible that's a wonderful connection we have with the. it's like this war against spoken to people hundred fifty years ago and it speaks to us now with this beautiful town.

good to have you with us adrian finnegan here in doha the top stories on al-jazeera bangladesh say they've signed a deal for the repatriation of the hindu refugees hope that it will allow the refugees to return home once that paperwork is completed by bangladesh hundreds of thousands of are injured the flood of. scott hyde last has more from the angle. myanmar has been facing increasing international pressure over the situation with the red hinge of refugees and outflow massive outflow from a kind state following a military crackdown here some three months ago they have been facing international pressure from human rights groups various reports saying that this was ethnic cleansing the united states secretary of state rex tillerson just on wednesday evening called it ethnic cleansing for the first time to drop administration has

used that phrase so they have been facing some serious international pressure so they need to show some progress resolving the situation police in papua new guinea have entered a decommissioned prison camp on menace island trying to evict refugees who are refusing to leave around fifty of them left in buses but around three hundred thirty others say they're too afraid to go outside the formal study and run facility fearing attacks by local people. yemen's main international airport has not reopened despite the saudi led coalition saying that it would the military alliance that announced that they would be allowing humanitarian aid into some airport and the seaport of data they've been facing increasing pressure to do so from the u.s. and the u.n. who want them to lift the blockade. iraqi forces have launched an operation to clear remaining eisel fighters out of the desert bordering syria troops from the iraqi army and the shia popular mobilization forces taking part in the campaign

against myself isis who are hiding in a large strip of borderlands iraq's prime minister hide all about he says that he'll announce the final defeats of the group in iraq once the operation has been completed and those are the headlines the u.s. continues here on al jazeera right after my inside story next. hopes running high in zimbabwe following robert mugabe's resignation as this african country enters a new era we ask what difference will a new leadership make this is inside story.